Product Description

Pirelli Cable Corporation (with U.S. operations feeding utilities from imported and domestically finished cable) allegedly supplied high-pressure fluid-filled (HPFF) pipe-type and self-contained fluid-filled (SCFF) high-voltage underground transmission cable in the 69 kV, 138 kV, 230 kV, and 345 kV class to major U.S. utilities for urban transmission crossings, according to publicly filed asbestos litigation records. The paper-insulated conductor cores were sheathed and then covered with an outer protective jacket compound allegedly loaded with asbestos fiber for heat resistance during dielectric-fluid heating and to survive torch flame during pothead termination. Additional asbestos-braid or asbestos-tape wraps allegedly protected the cable in the pipe or in air terminations. IBEW cable splicers making high-voltage terminations into oil-filled potheads, or repairing pipe-type dielectric-fluid leaks, allegedly cut, stripped, and torch-heated the asbestos jacket in substation manholes and pothead vaults.

Workers Exposed

IBEW underground cable splicers, substation electricians making high-voltage terminations, cable-testing technicians running hi-pot and partial-discharge tests, dielectric-fluid maintenance crews, and utility transmission crews allegedly encountered airborne fibers when cutting or heating Pirelli jacket and braid. Pothead-vault workers in urban substation environments allegedly faced confined-space exposure.